The sport of polo is experiencing its greatest growth spurt since it ceased to be an Olympic sport after The Second World War. In its hey day, from the late Victorian era to the 1930’s, polo was revered as the “Sport of Kings”.

Played by aristocrats, military officers and, in America, many of the Hollywood stars from the black & white films.

Sir Winston Churchill was an avid polo player and enthusiast as were Walt Disney, Spenser Tracy and Errol Flynn.

The sport almost met extinction after the War in Europe and America as polo fields were cultivated to feed the troops, ponies were sent to battle and several of the bravest players did not return.

Argentina, on the other hand, was not affected by the War and polo continued to be part of the estancia lifestyle on the vast farms over the flat plains for thousands of square kilometres around Buenos Aires.

Today, Argentina is the Mecca of the polo world. It produces the best polo players and ponies and the global polo community descends on Buenos Aires every year, in early December, for the Argentine Open where the best polo in the world is played in the national stadium in Palermo – referred to as “La Cathedral de Polo”.

In Europe and America polo is making a come-back. And around the world polo is growing at an unprecedented rate. In Pakistan, for example, since hosting their region’s qualifiers for the World Polo Championships a few years ago, player numbers have grown from 50 cavalry officers to over 500 military and civilian players.

Polo today is played in over 80 countries in the world and is on track to be reinstated into the Olympic Games.

The growth of players has dubbed polo as the “new golf” for it’s comparison to how the ancient Scottish ball game has grown from an elite sport 50 years ago to today’s broad base of middle class weekend golfers worldwide.

For its sheer expense and availability of polo ponies, it may never become as widespread as golf or tennis, but polo is much more accessible and relatively affordable to the middle classes of today. It’s more affordable than hobbies such as yachting, motor sport or a couple luxury holidays per year, for example.

Another practical limiting factor to polo’s appeal as a participation sport is its physicality and danger. Polo is not a sport for the light hearted. It originated in the first millennium BC and variations of the game have been used throughout history as a training exercise for the cavalry. It’s a full contact sport with a hard ball travelling at up to 150 mph being hit by a 52 inch long mallet from a horse galloping at 40 mph. No wonder polo has been dubbed “Rugby on Horseback”, but this moniker belies the fact that the action on horseback takes place at 3 times the pace of the pedestrian version.

In addition to polo’s renaissance as a sport for enthusiasts, the game has become exceptionally popular as a spectator sport and social gathering. A decade or so ago, the English polo season’s two largest tournaments of the year, the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup for the British Polo Open Championship at Cowdray and the Cartier International Day in Windsor had a few hundred spectators each. Today these two events alone generate crowds of 20 and 30 thousand respectively and have firmly earned themselves positions on the “English Season” calendar along side other traditions such as Wimbledon, Henley and Royal Ascot.

Polo has become fashionable in recent years and polo fashion has moved from the field and sidelines onto the highstreet. The polo player “uniform” of white jeans, a colourful Argentine belt, and a number emblazoned polo shirt are copied by many fashion labels and authentic polo suppliers have seen a boom in business from customers outside the smaller polo circles that they have traditionally outfitted.

It’s as important to “look the part” at a polo event as it is at any other social event and the fashion conscious among the new generation of polo spectators will want to take note. A polo tournament is not a night club. But it is amazing to see many novice spectators, including several C Lists celebrities, wearing stiletto heels or black suits and dashes of bling in the middle of the English countryside. Polo events, and from where you watch them (Royal Box to pony lines), vary in terms of dress code from suites and ties to jeans and T shirts. For the most part, classic is best. For guys, you can’t go wrong with a pair of chinos or white jeans and either a dress shirt and blazer or a nice, plain polo shirt. For girls, the high heels are tempting but impractical for the traditional stomping of the divots, so wedges are best (and even wellies are acceptable in damp conditions). At the most glamorous polo events of the year skirts or dress are the norm. At less formal weekend polo matches dress for comfort and don’t over do it.

So, now that you know what to wear for an afternoon of divot stomping and can impress your fellow spectators with your newfound equine wisdom, all there is left to do is begin planning the social diary for the 08 polo season.